1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a click-to-call service, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing a click-to-call service using Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology.
2. Description of the Related Art
The development of mobile networks and mobile terminal devices has contributed to the popularization of mobile phones, leading to the rapid growth of the mobile phone market. This popularization has led to the development of value-added services, such as video calls, in addition to traditional voice call services.
These mobile services have expanded their service coverage to home, contributing to the emergence of such technology as UPnP Telephony that allows users to enjoy the unique features of their mobile phones at home using Consumer Electronics (CE) devices such as Televisions (TVs).
UPnP Telephony enables interworking between CE devices and telephony devices. Using this technology, a user may make or receive calls through a TV at home in conjunction with a telephony device regardless of the types of the telephony devices that the user uses for the calls.
UPnP Telephony is highly likely to be adopted as the next standard of Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), because this technology may interwork not only with Mobile Telephony Service, but also with the existing telephony technologies such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). UPnP Telephony also has the same infrastructure (UPnP Device Architecture) as DLNA, which is the de facto standard for home media sharing.
Other technologies, which are similar in coverage to UPnP Telephony, may include Cordless Advanced Technology-internet and quality (CAT-iq) for home wireless phone connections and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-based Gm interfacestandardization of which is underway by Telecoms & Internet converged Services & Protocols for Advanced Networks (TISPAN).
Even though a user conventionally subscribes to paid services, on which advertisements are posted by advertisers or sponsors, the user may be required to pay call charges, if any, for contacting the advertisers. In this case, the user may feel that such charges somewhat unfair and should be paid by the advertisers.
In addition, a UPnP telephony server is embedded in the terminal on which the user desires to make calls, causing the hardware complexity. For example, if a phone with a UPnP telephony server is further away from the than another phone without a UPnP telephony server, the user must inconveniently walk to the phone with a UPnP telephony server in order to request and receive a click-to-call service.